More students and a dozen projects, including a new gym and events center, at their Costa Mesa campus are among Vanguard University officials’ long-term plans for the school as its 2020 centennial approaches.

The four-year, private Christian college has been near the corner of Newport Boulevard and Fair Drive since 1950, and some of its buildings are even older, left over from the World War II-era Santa Ana Army Air Base, so the campus is due for some upgrades, said David Vazquez, the university’s director of external relations.

School officials are seeking city approval for a ew 30-year plan that would replace the 1942 gym; create a new center where students could eat, exercise and study; replace old math, science and technology buildings; and replace some surface parking lots with a four-story garage on Newport Boulevard.

The city’s Planning Commission heard concerns from residents about parking and the proposed location of a maintenance facility at a meeting Monday and will discuss the project further June 25.

Since its 1920 founding in Los Angeles as a theology school, Vanguard has grown to include about 2,100 students, most of whom live on campus or commute from around Orange County. That number is expected to grow to about 2,700 in coming decades, though as the school establishes satellite programs and offers more courses online, not all of them will be full-time students in Costa Mesa, Vazquez said.

As the university looks beyond its 100-year anniversary, Vazquez said, “We really want to articulate our mission and who we are through the physical campus.” First on the to-do list will be the $24.8 million student center, which will replace an existing cafe and bookstore. Construction could start this summer if approved.

Students and staff won’t be the only ones to see the changes to come. Vazquez said people regularly visit the campus to watch sports, plays and concerts and attend other public events.

Some neighbors have complained that when the university is in session, parking is already a problem, saying they worry that with no definite timeline for building a parking garage, it will get worse.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Fair & Events Center, which is across the street from Vanguard, and Orange Coast College, which is less than a mile away, are also working on new long-term plans for future growth.

With the potential for multiple construction projects in an area that already sees congestion, particularly during the month-long Orange County Fair, should residents expect the next few years to be a traffic mess? Planning Commissioner Byron de Arakal doesn’t think so.

“Could there be delays? Absolutely. It’s true any time there’s new major construction going on,” he said, but the city requires advance planning to manage traffic and construction logistics.

Vazquez said the university will continue to work with neighbors to address their concerns with the campus plans.

Many of the residents who raised questioned to the Planning Commission noted they generally support Vanguard and its mission.

De Arakal said that in spite of periodic inconveniences to residents, the school, as well as Orange Coast College and the fairgrounds, “are critical, key spokes in the wheel of Costa Mesa. They bring in a huge amount of people.”